Pleasant Mills is the town just west of Batsto village, across the Burlington border in Atlantic County.
Like the rest of this site, this page is constantly under construction. There is a great deal of information available concerning Pleasant Mills; unlike most of the other towns on this site, it is still inhabited. I am concerned here mainly with the residents of the town up to the early 20th century, especially with how they relate to Batsto.Of special interest would be the cemetery in Pleasant Mills. The church that it serves began as a log structure in 1707, replaced by another one in 1760 and the current building which was erected in 1808. ( I have seen conflicting information on this; some sources claim the church began as a log structure on land donated by Elijah Clark in 1758) There is a partial list of marriages performed at the church.
Additionally, Pleasant Mills was home to the first Catholic church in the pines, St. Mary of the Pines which is no longer standing, although it's tiny graveyard still is. Like most of the towns in that part of the state, Pleasant Mills experienced many of the standard industries of the 19th century pine barrens; a sawmill was erected orignally in 1725, and paper was also made there in the 19th century (the Pleasant Mills Paper Co. of Wm. E. Farrel began in 1862.)
In 1645 Eric Mullica sailed up the river which now bears his name. He established the first white settlement in the area, at or near Lower Bank. Eight miles farther up ther river, at Pleasant Mills, the Lenni Lenape had a "summer village." In 1707 Scottish exiles came to Pleasant Mills, and the nearby neighborhood known as "The Forks" developed as a trading center. There were sawmills there involved in lumber business (Jersey Pine and cedar were in great demand). The first stagecoach arrived there probably in 1773 (at Thomas Clark's Mill). In 1779 Elijah Clark sold his plantation to Richard Wescoat. Elijah Clark built his home at Pleasant Mills in 1762, and it was this home which was later to be known as the Kate Aylesford house, after the fictional character of a best -selling Charles Peterson novel.
According to historian William McMahon, there was a tavern known as "Sailor Boy Tavern" built here about 1750 by someone he refers to as the "widow Cullen", on the old Egg Harbor Road, where the supply runners to Washington at Valley Forge had their headquarters. He also claims that Benedict Arnold kept headquarters at Pleasant Mills until September of 1778, when he relocated (along with all of the supplies) to Philadelphia for fear that the British were going to burn the town. Later, Casimir Pulaski is supposed to have camped his men at Pleasant Mills as well before the battle at Chestnut Neck.
In 1787 the town became associated with Joseph Ball when he purchased Batsto. (Ball also was one of the four partners who operated the Weymouth Iron Works.) Ball later sold Pleasant Mills to Samuel Richards and Clayton Earl in 1796.
UPDATE: I have recently come across this news item from the New Jersey Courier newspaper of 10 Apr 1879:
A gentleman at Pleasant Mills is raising yucca, or Eve's Thread, for manufacturing paper. A new mill is to be erected
in place of the one that not long ago burned down, and yucca and other products of South Jersey are to be used in the manufacture
of paper.
Below is a list of family names that have some connection to Pleasant Mills; click on the name to learn more about the family.
Abbott
Adams
Batterson
Coleman
Craig
Dellett
Ford
Garoutte
Green
Heineke
Jervis
Kane
Langtry
Lawless
Leek
Maher
Mathis
McKeon
Peterson
Reed
Reynolds
Sooy
